First Experience: Michelle

Our first experience covers Michelle. In addition to being my girlfriend and one of the people who inspired this project, Michelle is also a talented painter.

Here is Michelle describing what inspires her to be an artist:

"I love the feeling of getting lost in something. When I paint or draw I'll be lost in it for hours. In high school I always got in trouble for showing up late for class because I lost track of the time while painting. It's a time where I get to be alone with just my thoughts and just let them spill out on to the paper. I fall in love with every piece I paint and every time I look at it it's like seeing an old friend again.

I'm a fairly insecure person so for a long time I was too afraid to paint because I didn't feel I was creative enough or talented enough. But I've come to realize I don't paint to impress others or to show I have value as a person I paint because it's what I love doing. I think it takes a lot of courage to be an artist. You're showing the world a part of your soul and there's always a risk to that. There's going to be critics and other artists that are more talented than you but you can't allow that to stop you. Everyone on this planet has purpose and value.

We all bring something new and exciting and you can't hide away in fear of not being accepted or loved. You'll never give yourself a chance to be known by others. You'll always have critics and even if you find only one person on this earth who will love you it's worth the risk. During one of my many existential crises my boyfriend pointed out to me that we will never know why we are here or what we are supposed to be doing with this one life until we die and even then we still might never know. It's up to us to decide the experience we get from this life, and the experience I want to have is one where I share myself with others.

My full uncensored self. Anything else would be inauthentic. Art is a way for me to do that. And it's why I appreciate artists who just take the risk and go for it. I feel everyone can be a great artist if they just let go of the fear of not being good enough or being perfect. I am excited to use this as an opportunity to break out of my comfort zone and hope others do so as well."

Hope you enjoyed :)